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Hickman expert Bruce Vermazen writes of this track:
Black and Hickman wrote “Molly O” as a
theme song for a movie with the same title. The piece
is
an Irish smorgasbord from the Tin Pan Alley menu and
falls well below the composers’ usual
standard. But there’s musical refreshment in
Ellis’s lively ragtime behind the trumpet-trombone
duet.
This is the second of two numbers omitted from The
San Francisco Sound, Vol. 2 because of space limitations.
It was recorded on Mar. 21, 1921 in San Francisco,
when Columbia set up a special unit on the West Coast
for the Hickmans to record.
Two other Hickman pieces from the coverage period
also will be saved for future releases, because they
feature singers. One is "In Old Manila," sung by Frank
Crumit, and the other is "I Could Have Had You (But
I Let You Get By)," sung by Nora Bayes.
With two CD volumes (50 tracks) and four special Recordings
of the Month covering Art Hickman's Orchestra, Archeophone
presents the most complete portrait of this legendary
and innovative jazz outfit.
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